“Well that went well”, the consensus from all involved with the 2019 Textualities conference. Head of the School of English Prof Lee Jenkins described it as one of the highlights of the year, that the lecturing staff are always excited to hear what the graduate students have been researching and learn something new themselves. I very much always feel myself adopting the role of teacher whenever I have to give a presentation and that feeling was emphasized with the addition of a lecture podium and a sizable crowd.

Many of us were nervous as the day of the conference approached, it does not matter how skilled/experienced you are with public speaking, the additional weight of an academic grade will not help the anxiousness. However, from the very first panel at 10pm on Friday 22nd of March it was obvious that all our preparation had paid off. As I stated previously we received useful guidance from Dr Anne Etienne, lecturer in drama and theater which involved practicing our presentations in front of each other.

The first panel which I myself volunteered to chair was about “The Monstrous”, the theme was addressed from many different points of view by students from both MAs covering everything from witchcraft in Shakespeare, to Beowulf, to Mary Shelley to modern superhero movies. The enthusiastic Q/A sessions which followed each panel allowed the speakers to shine and engage with other scholars with similar interests.

My own experience was equally positive, though I did experience a minor technical difficulty with my slideshow I was able to recover. As any actor who fumbles a line during a live performance will tell you, minor mistakes are fine as long as the show continues. The whole experience of the conference was an enriching insight into the true academic world we may become a part of someday and even now I cannot believe it is behind us after so much build up since the new year.